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• Age-related macular degeneration
• Embryonic stem cells
• Regenerative medicine
• Stem cells

• Small Steps Towards Restored Sight

  Medical News Today notes that researcher seek "to equip cells of the retina with photoswitches, essentially making blind nerve cells see, restoring light sensitivity in people with degenerative blindness such as macular degeneration. ... The researchers demonstrated in 2004 that they could turn cultured nerve cells on and off with this optical switch. Since then [they've] injected photoswitches into the eyes of rats that have a disease that kills their rods and cones, and have restored some light sensitivity to the remaining retinal cells. ... Their group, centered around the optical control of biological function, will develop viruses that can carry the photoswitches into the correct cells ... We plan to develop the tools to create a new layer of optically active cells for the retina."
  
  View the Article Under Discussion: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/medicalnews.php?newsid=55573
  Read More Longevity Meme Commentary: http://www.longevitymeme.org/news/
  Posted Monday, November 06, 2006 3:57 PM from Longevity Meme News and Commentary / 0 Comments

  Tags: Eye regeneration, Blindness

• Embryonic Stem Cells Versus Blindness

  Washington Post reports on new embryonic stem cell research from Advanced Cell Technology: scientists "started by developing a reliable method for turning embryonic stem cells into retinal pigment epithelium cells, which nourish the light-sensitive 'photoreceptor' cells in the eye. In macular degeneration, the pigment cells gradually disappear. The researchers achieved the transformation in all 18 stem cell lines they worked with ... treated rats had twice the visual acuity of the untreated rats nearly three months after treatment." Like much of ACT's present work, this is an early stage technology demonstration. It shows an increasingly sophisticated level of control over stem cell differentiation and examples of newly developed tools, processes and infrastructure needed to get the job done.
  
  View the Article Under Discussion: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/20/AR2006092001674.html
  Read More Longevity Meme Commentary: http://www.longevitymeme.org/news/
  Posted Wednesday, September 20, 2006 5:05 PM from Longevity Meme News and Commentary / 0 Comments

  Tags: Eye regeneration, Age-related macular degeneration, Blindness, Embryonic stem cells, Stem cells

• Towards Retinal Reconstitution

  The MIT Technology Review reports on progress towards regenerative medicine for blindness: "Scientists are taking the first major step in using stem cells to replace retinal cells lost to degenerative eye diseases such as macular degeneration and retinitis pigmentosa. ... [researchers] can reliably make retinal cells from embryonic stem cells. The researchers are now implanting the cells into blind animals to see if the cells can restore vision. ... If we can replace the photoreceptors, we think we can restore vision. ... The researchers don't yet know if the cells can actually integrate into the complex circuitry of the eye to restore vision, but early results are promising. ... We should know within the next year if the cells can restore vision."
  
  View the Article Under Discussion: http://www.technologyreview.com/printer_friendly_article.aspx?id=17307
  Read More Longevity Meme Commentary: http://www.longevitymeme.org/news/
  Posted Sunday, August 20, 2006 9:01 AM from Longevity Meme News and Commentary / 0 Comments

  Tags: Eye regeneration, Blindness, Regenerative medicine